Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Based on the bestseller by John Grisham, Runaway Jury is a slick thriller that's exciting enough to overcome the gaps in its plot. The ultimate target has been changed: Grisham's legal assault on the tobacco industry was switched to the hot-button issue of gun control (no doubt to avoid comparisons with The Insider) in a riveting exposé of jury-tampering. Gene Hackman plays the ultra-cynical, utterly unscrupulous pawn of the gun-makers, using an expert staff and advanced electronics to hand-pick a New Orleans jury that will return a favourable verdict; Dustin Hoffman (making his first screen appearance with real-life former roommate Hackman) defends the grieving widow of a gun-shooting victim with idealistic zeal, while maverick juror John Cusack and accomplice Rachel Weisz play both ends against the middle in a personal quest to hold gun-makers accountable. It's riveting stuff, even when it's obvious that Grisham and director Gary Fleder have glossed over any details that would unravel the plot's intricate design. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Special Features
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 2.35:1 Anamorphic
- Language: English
- Running Time: 2 hours and 1 minute (approx)
- Region Code: 2
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Nicholas Easter is a complicated man. Played by John Cusack, as the viewer you will get the wrong impression of the man, that is the intention.
The first thing you will be surprised at is the lengths at which Gene Hackman will go to secure "his" verdict, or the verdict that is required for his clients. Dustin Hoffman is the prosecuting lawyer, and together with his team, a cat and mouse game develops behind the scenes between Nick Easter, manipulating the jury, and Hackman, trying to continue controlling verdicts by clever jury selection and stealth tactics. Hackman will stop at nothing, he is big-time. Rachel Weisz plays the co-conspirator of Easter, and she is a great actress. You get a good feel for her vulnerability in the "big-time" against Hackman, which nicely sets up the twist in the plotline, and makes her character more real.
The jury scenes are interesting and each of the jurors characters are developed nicely so that when deliberations start you are almost second guessing what the characters are going to say.
This is a great film, with some great scenes between hollywood greats Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman. Yet another must for your collection, this is film that suits your tastes when you want to both watch and think about the movie, it is gripping and interesting from start to finish.
The first thing you will be surprised at is the lengths at which Gene Hackman will go to secure "his" verdict, or the verdict that is required for his clients. Dustin Hoffman is the prosecuting lawyer, and together with his team, a cat and mouse game develops behind the scenes between Nick Easter, manipulating the jury, and Hackman, trying to continue controlling verdicts by clever jury selection and stealth tactics. Hackman will stop at nothing, he is big-time. Rachel Weisz plays the co-conspirator of Easter, and she is a great actress. You get a good feel for her vulnerability in the "big-time" against Hackman, which nicely sets up the twist in the plotline, and makes her character more real.
The jury scenes are interesting and each of the jurors characters are developed nicely so that when deliberations start you are almost second guessing what the characters are going to say.
This is a great film, with some great scenes between hollywood greats Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman. Yet another must for your collection, this is film that suits your tastes when you want to both watch and think about the movie, it is gripping and interesting from start to finish.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Another John Grisham thriller is churned out as a star studded movie. It seems the books with the most thrills have been taken, as this is somewhat pedestrian, although still entertaining.
So what's it about? A big trial against the gun manufacturers is in progress, and both sides are anxious to have the jury on their side. The gun manufacturers hire Gene Hackman, representing the dark corporate side of jury manipulation. However, the apple-cart is upturned when it turns out that the jury is already being manipulated and may be for sale, engineered by someone on the jury and an accomplice (Weisz).
The collection of stars is fantastic - Hackman, Hoffman, Cusack, Weisz. In fact, as the interesting extras point out, Hackman and Hoffman have never shared screen time before. Seeing them in their one big screen moment together is the highlight of the movie. Hackman does not quite bring the same complexity to the role as he did to his other Grisham movie, `The Firm', but he lends real gravitas to his unscrupulous jury consultant. Hoffman is unusually restrained for the most part to play a convincing attorney, but it's Cusack once again who shows himself as a truly natural talent, morphing into just about any role he is given with ease. Here, the entertainment is in watching him manipulate the jury with some applied psychology, while his own motivation remains obscured until a time of his choosing.
Most of the movie is a bidding war and cat and mouse game, until the final denouement unveils the true motivation in a reasonably satisfying way. Along the way, the thriller elements seem shoehorned in, with the real joy in watching the process of choosing and manipulating the jury - the indictment of the system the movie is aiming at.
It's a solid enough story, and well told - but somehow you get the feeling the source material was never as cinematic as Grisham's previous movie adaptations. The cast and acting, especially by Hackman and Cusack, make this worthwhile. For legal thriller buffs, it won't disappoint, but it's not the real classic it might have been.
The extras where Hackman and Hoffman chat about their on screen scene together and their long friendship, is probably the most interesting thing on the disc.
So what's it about? A big trial against the gun manufacturers is in progress, and both sides are anxious to have the jury on their side. The gun manufacturers hire Gene Hackman, representing the dark corporate side of jury manipulation. However, the apple-cart is upturned when it turns out that the jury is already being manipulated and may be for sale, engineered by someone on the jury and an accomplice (Weisz).
The collection of stars is fantastic - Hackman, Hoffman, Cusack, Weisz. In fact, as the interesting extras point out, Hackman and Hoffman have never shared screen time before. Seeing them in their one big screen moment together is the highlight of the movie. Hackman does not quite bring the same complexity to the role as he did to his other Grisham movie, `The Firm', but he lends real gravitas to his unscrupulous jury consultant. Hoffman is unusually restrained for the most part to play a convincing attorney, but it's Cusack once again who shows himself as a truly natural talent, morphing into just about any role he is given with ease. Here, the entertainment is in watching him manipulate the jury with some applied psychology, while his own motivation remains obscured until a time of his choosing.
Most of the movie is a bidding war and cat and mouse game, until the final denouement unveils the true motivation in a reasonably satisfying way. Along the way, the thriller elements seem shoehorned in, with the real joy in watching the process of choosing and manipulating the jury - the indictment of the system the movie is aiming at.
It's a solid enough story, and well told - but somehow you get the feeling the source material was never as cinematic as Grisham's previous movie adaptations. The cast and acting, especially by Hackman and Cusack, make this worthwhile. For legal thriller buffs, it won't disappoint, but it's not the real classic it might have been.
The extras where Hackman and Hoffman chat about their on screen scene together and their long friendship, is probably the most interesting thing on the disc.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I have no idea whether juries in the real world can be corrupted as this jury in the reel world is, but "Runaway Jury" is a riveting thriller that ought to capture the interest of the viewer from beginning to end, whether one buys into all the plot points or not.
Its success as a genre-film derives from the superlative cast, which is headed by Dustin Hoffman in the role of the honest but savvily down-to-earth attorney (with shabby suit and a carefully planted mustard dab on his tie) who is suing the big gun companies on behalf of the wife of a victim of a mass murder; and Gene Hackman as the ruthless (and expensively dressed) jury consultant, who does not give a fig for the victims, but merely wants to win big on behalf of his even bigger clients, no matter how low he has to stoop to do it. Hoffman and Hackman are supported ably by John Cusack and Rachel Weisz, both of whose characters have hidden agendas.
Although the film is worth watching for its suspense-factor alone, the performances of Hoffman and Hackman, who confront each other in the old-fashioned wood-paneled men's washroom of the court, lift "Runaway Jury" from the level of a conventional court-room thriller. This scene, which lasts several minutes, allows these two cinematic masters to pull out all the stops, as it were, of their craft. It is so rare nowadays to get a full-blown scene--more reminiscent of one in a stage play--between two actors of their calibre.
The settings of pre-Katrina New Orleans--the French Quarter and the Garden District--also contribute to the film's ambience.
Every once and a while, I sit down and watch the DVD of a film that I missed in the theatre the first time around. Many, I pass on to my friends; "Runaway Jury," I did not.
Its success as a genre-film derives from the superlative cast, which is headed by Dustin Hoffman in the role of the honest but savvily down-to-earth attorney (with shabby suit and a carefully planted mustard dab on his tie) who is suing the big gun companies on behalf of the wife of a victim of a mass murder; and Gene Hackman as the ruthless (and expensively dressed) jury consultant, who does not give a fig for the victims, but merely wants to win big on behalf of his even bigger clients, no matter how low he has to stoop to do it. Hoffman and Hackman are supported ably by John Cusack and Rachel Weisz, both of whose characters have hidden agendas.
Although the film is worth watching for its suspense-factor alone, the performances of Hoffman and Hackman, who confront each other in the old-fashioned wood-paneled men's washroom of the court, lift "Runaway Jury" from the level of a conventional court-room thriller. This scene, which lasts several minutes, allows these two cinematic masters to pull out all the stops, as it were, of their craft. It is so rare nowadays to get a full-blown scene--more reminiscent of one in a stage play--between two actors of their calibre.
The settings of pre-Katrina New Orleans--the French Quarter and the Garden District--also contribute to the film's ambience.
Every once and a while, I sit down and watch the DVD of a film that I missed in the theatre the first time around. Many, I pass on to my friends; "Runaway Jury," I did not.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Running away with the jury?
Having been partial to the novel, it was clear from the start that links would have to be severed in order to make it worthwhile to watch as a film. Read more
Published 2 months ago by DocReview
A good adaptation of the book, but not as good by far!
The book was so much better and had lots more curve balls than the film. However to get all the book into a film would have needed some cutting... Read more
Published 3 months ago by StuartB
Good DVD quality. Great film.
The DVD is good quality and locked to region 2, though if you have a multi region player, that should not be a problem. The movie is a great adaptation of the book. Read more
Published 5 months ago by moviewatcher
A psychological thriller that leave one wondering
In newspapers today, details of a trial beginning at the Old Bailey with the selection of twelve jurors from a group of twenty-four, is front page news, as it will be for weeks to... Read more
Published 6 months ago by RR Waller
Runaway jury dvd
Based on a John Grisham novel. Very dramatic and clever twists throughout the film. Very well acted with good actors.
Published 16 months ago by Mrs. Wendy Hope
Well done but a fairy tale ending
John Grisham is a pretty pungent thriller writer but in this case he wrote a beautiful fairy tale. At least the ending is a fairy tale.
But the object is not the ending. Read more
But the object is not the ending. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Jacques COULARDEAU
They didn't keep the theme of the book, so why keep the title?
This could have been a good film. If they'd stuck to the book. Instead they failed to take on the cigarette industry like the book does, and had a go at the gun lobby instead. Read more
Published 21 months ago by R. J. Leigh
The Fixers
I'm quite a big fan of Grisham's books, having read about 70% of them up till now, but not so of the films as most of them have a "made for TV" feel to them IMO. Read more
Published on 28 April 2009 by tallpete33
can juries be corrupted like this - whatever the answer really is the...
Can juries be corrupted in the united states in the way that this film suggests? I doubt it but this doesn't stop Runaway Jury from being intriguing enough to watch and well enough... Read more
Published on 20 Sep 2008 by dan the fan
Changed
Why was the case changed from cigarettes to guns for the film? Suing for cancer makes far more sense than suing over use of a gun. Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2008 by G. J. Weeks
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
